Quotes and Notes: While the City Sleeps (1956)

“While the City Sleeps” is listed as a crime drama and film noir on IMDB. But is it really? The film opens up with a murder, for sure, but it turns into a contest for an executive position. Directed by Fritz Lang, the star-studded film features Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Vincent Price, George Sanders, Ida Lupino and her then husband, Howard Duff, along with several notable character actors.

After murdering a young woman in her apartment, a drugstore deliveryman scrawls “Ask Mother” on the wall in lipstick. In the aftermath, media mogul Amos Kyne has assembled his top guys around his hospital bed and demands to know why his paper, The Sentinel, was scooped on this story. Just to show you how important the story is, Mark Loving, head of the wire service says “Why, it’s just another murder.” Managing editor, Jon Day Griffith, says “I’ll put this on page two.”

Amos insists on sensationalizing the story. He wants every woman scared silly every time she puts lipstick on: “Call this baby “The Lipstick Killer” — smack across the front page!” He directs Harry Kritzer, his chief photographer, to get on the pictures. Alone with TV journalist, Ed Mobley, Amos confides his fears of what will become of his empire when his “carburetor conks out” since his son is not much more than a rich playboy and Ed won’t aspire to fill his shoes. Assuring Amos that he’ll be around a while longer, Ed turns his back to turn on the TV and Amos dies.

Rhonda Fleming as Dorothy Kyne; James Craig as Harry Kritzer; Vincent Price as Walter Kyne

Now Walter Kyne is the head of company. He is married to Dorothy who is having an affair with “Honest” Harry Kritzer. Walter calls Kritzer in along with Mark Loving and Jon Day Griffith. Walter is acutely aware that these guys see him as a joke, totally unqualified to run The Sentinel.

Dana Andrews as Ed Mobley and his fiancee, Nancy Liggett

Later Walter meets with TV journalist Ed Mobley (Dana Andrews) and confides how sick he was of listening to his father sing Ed’s praises whenever the old man was sore at him. He tells Ed that the three department heads may think he’s “Amos Kyne’s idiot son” but he has a plan that will “set them scrambling for the new job” of Executive Director that he plans to create — “someone to do the actual work.” Walter says: “When I have them dangling on a string, when they realize that I hold their entire lives in my hands, they won’t sneer.” Whoever identifies the Lipstick Killer first wins.

The Lipstick Killer and his ma

John Barrymore, Jr., later known as John Drew Barrymore, plays the Lipstick Killer. It’s not a spoiler because you know it’s him right from the start. His character is compelled to murder women because he hates his adoptive mother, played by character actress, Mae Marsh. In their one scene, he’s very nasty to her. She is oblivious to how narrowly she escapes having her life snuffed out. At least, that’s how I saw it. If it wasn’t for Ed Mobley taunting him on TV, it would have been curtains for mom.

Thomas Mitchell as Jon Day Griffith, chief managing editor

Walter’s challenge does indeed set Loving, Kritzer and Griffith against each other. Kritzer believes his romance with Walter’s wife and his friendship with Walter is his ticket to the big time. Griffith enlists Ed Mobley’s help because Mobley has connections with Lt. Burt Kaufman (Howard Duff). As Griffith puts it: “I want to get the job, that’s the idea. And to get the job, I’ll stick a knife in anybody I have to.”

Ida Lupino as Mildred Donner; George Sanders as Mark Loving

Ida Lupino played seductive gossip columnist, Mildred Donner, who supposedly is romantically involved with George Sanders’ character, Mark Loving. He asks her to seduce Ed Mobley to further his chances of getting the job. She happily complies because “it might be fun”, although it almost costs Ed his engagement with Nancy. That in itself is pretty funny because Ed set up his own fiancee as bait to catch the Lipstick Killer and she went along with it! Indeed, the Lipstick Killer stalked Nancy but there’s a surprise twist in how he gets caught.

Notes:

• “While the City Sleeps” was based upon the 1953 book “The Bloody Spur” by Charles Einstein, which in turn, was inspired by the sensational newspaper wars surrounding three 1940s murders that William Heirens was convicted of. He was called the “Lipstick Killer.”

• You may remember Thomas Mitchell as Scarlett O’Hara’s father in “Gone With the Wind.” In that film, he not only uttered the famous line: “Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O’Hara, that Tara, that land doesn’t mean anything to you?”, he also got first billing. In 1953, he became the first actor to win the Triple Crown of Acting: a Tony Award (1953’s “Hazel Flagg”), an Emmy (Best Actor of 1953), and a Best Supporting Oscar (1939’s “Stagecoach”).

• 19 years after this film, John Barrymore, Jr. became the father of Drew Barrymore.

• Mae Marsh was a looker in her prime. In 1918, Ernest Hemingway falsely told friends that he was engaged to Mae.